


Jamais Deux Sans Trois

by Antonius



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-04
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-22 10:31:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/912157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antonius/pseuds/Antonius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bathrooms are kind of their thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The first time is an accident.

**Author's Note:**

> Three chronological chapters of varying lengths, centered around the fact that Faberry have most of their important interactions in the ladies' room. The later chapters are straight from canon scenes, but imagine what happened after the camera cut away. Rated T, but only barely.

Rachel first corners Quinn in the bathroom after a particularly vicious morning slushee. She had _just_ received her now-ruined cashmere sweater from her fathers the day prior, and she was _not happy_ about it. She enters the bathroom to wash her face, but upon discovering Quinn already inside, something snaps within her. Rachel comes at Quinn in a blind fury, screaming and shoving and acting totally unlike Quinn has ever seen her. By the end of her tirade, they are inches apart, eyes locked, Quinn paralyzed with surprise and Rachel with fury. Quinn lets out a breath slowly, quietly, and Rachel, feeling it on her face, suddenly becomes aware of their physical proximity. She pulls back as if Quinn had slapped her, then abruptly turns to leave. She glances back once, but Quinn's head is bowed, her gaze averted. Neither of them says a word.

When Quinn joins Glee Club later that week, Rachel wonders whether it's as a spy for Sue or because of their earlier confrontation. Perhaps it's both. She doesn't ask. She can feel Quinn's eyes on the back of her head the entire evening, but she never turns around.

The following day, when Quinn confronts Rachel with a slushee, she hesitates for a moment—just barely long enough that Rachel takes note. After a beat, Quinn throws it in Kurt's face instead. Rachel looks at Quinn in confusion, but she refuses to meet Rachel's eyes, grabs Santana and Brittany, and rushes toward the gym before anybody can say anything.


	2. The second time is a coincidence.

Quinn storms into the bathroom, unaware that Rachel is hot on her heels. Expecting to be alone with her fury, Rachel's unexpected voice only makes her angrier.

"Quinn, you need to calm down—"

Quinn wheels around, claws bared, and lashes out.

"This is _your fault!_ Nobody would have _ever_ voted for me, because they know he would rather be with you."

"That's not true! I—"

Before Quinn can stop herself, she's slapped Rachel right in the face. In the cramped confines of the bathroom, the strike sounds dull. Rachel stays doubled over for several seconds, more out of shock than out of pain, and Quinn takes a few deep breaths, adrenaline flooding her system. She fully intends to keep this fight going now that it's been started, but Rachel—sweet, innocent, kind Rachel—slowly returns upright, and they lock eyes. Rachel's eyes dart between both of Quinn's, and the hurt Quinn can see within them makes her feel as if Rachel had slapped her right back. Her voice suddenly becomes very small.

"...I am _so sorry_."

The intensity of Rachel's stare quickly becomes too much for Quinn, who disengages and walks over to the mirrors. She grips the sink with white knuckles and tries to will Rachel away, but to no avail; Rachel moves to the sink to Quinn's left, and makes no indication that she intends to leave. Instead, she decides to try to calm Quinn with some levity.

"I know I'm supposed to be upset about being slapped in the face...but I happen to appreciate the drama of it."

Quinn wants to laugh (or cry, she's not sure), but she crushes it down and instead tries to put her ever-present walls back where they should be. She turns around, slowly, and leans back on the sink, all the while deliberately avoiding looking at Rachel. Rachel recognizes that Quinn is trying to hide within herself, but the sting she still feels on her face makes her decide not to push against Quinn's walls just yet. Instead, she takes two steps over to the paper towel dispenser, though she glances back with surprise when Quinn speaks. While only a minute ago Quinn's voice had been cracking with emotion, now any emotions are buried beneath the patented Fabray "careful-and-measured" voice.

"I know you think it's hard to be you, Rachel, but at least you don't have to be terrified all the time."

Rachel steps back over and wets the paper towel with warm water, lowering her voice to match Quinn's, as if Quinn is a small bird she doesn't want to frighten.

"What are you so scared of?"

Rachel hands Quinn the paper towel, which she takes while continuing to deliberately avoid looking at or touching Rachel. She uses the moment to think of all the things she could say. The truth. The lies. She thinks of the coronation. She thinks of Kurt, who has more reason to be upset than she does. She thinks of Santana, who expected to be crowned as a gesture of the acceptance that she will never admit she craves. She thinks of Rachel, who by all rights should hate her, but who is instead here, now, comforting her as best she can. She thinks of herself. In the end, she settles for a version of the truth.

"The future." She uses the paper towel to gesture towards her appearance. "When all this is gone."

Rachel wants to roll her eyes at that, but she knows it wouldn't be received well. Instead, she turns to face Quinn fully, even if Quinn won't face her in turn.

"Look, you have _nothing_ to be scared of. You're a...very pretty girl, Quinn." As soon as Rachel says "pretty", Quinn is shocked into making eye contact. Now, it's Rachel's turn to avert her eyes, though she doesn't stop talking. "The prettiest girl I've ever met. But..." She steels herself and looks back at Quinn now, this time refusing to continue speaking until Quinn meets her gaze. It takes a moment, but eventually their eyes meet again, if only briefly. Rachel leans in for emphasis, though her voice is quieter than before. "You're _a lot more than that._ "

At those words, and the sincerity with which Rachel says them, Quinn's entire face contorts with the strain of trying not to cry. She takes one deep breath, then another, and when Rachel asks in that quiet, sincere voice whether she can help Quinn dab her eyes, Quinn doesn't have it in her heart to refuse.

 

 

The silence between them stretches on long enough that Quinn should be uncomfortable, but instead she finds it to be calming. She relaxes against the sink, and Rachel, her task completed, turns around to throw the paper towel away. The renewed physical distance (and the fact that she's out of reach in case Quinn decides to slap her again) spurs her towards asking Quinn a question.

"It's not just your looks you're worried about, is it?"

Quinn, her calm gone, immediately frowns, and her careful-and-measured voice returns. She turns around to face the mirror once more.

"That's all I have, Rachel. My looks. I don't have anything else to—"

"—Quinn, don't. You _know_ that's not true, and _I_ don't believe it for a second, either. Look, I don't...even after all we've been through together since you joined Glee, I don't know whether we're _friends_ yet, but we're _something_ , and you should know that if something's wrong, you can tell me. I care, Quinn."

Quinn looks at Rachel through her reflection. Her jaw is set and her stare is unyielding. Rachel, for her part, refuses to be intimidated by it, and doesn't break the stare.

"Rachel, I just...I didn't expect my prom to turn out this way. I'm afraid of what will happen when my looks are gone. And I know that while Finn is sweet, he's also fickle; we're high school sweethearts, not soulmates. He'll leave me in the end. And I want to be upset about that, but honestly, I'm more upset that I can't bring myself to care."

Before Rachel can think of what to say in response, Quinn continues. Her voice loses some of its sharpness, and her features soften, albeit slightly.

"...I know you're the one who told Finn the color of ribbon he should get to match my eyes."

Rachel, a trained actress all her life, still fails to hide her guilty expression. She turns around to keep Quinn from seeing, but she does so too late. Still, she tried.

"Why would you think that?"

Quinn turns around now as well, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she returns to leaning back against the sink.

"You just told me. And, really, Finn can barely remember what color his _own_ eyes are, much less anyone else's."

Rachel fights a smile tugging at her own lips now. "At least Finn makes you happy, Quinn. That's really all anyone can ask for in high school romances. If what you think of Finn is true, then you'll find someone better once we've all graduated and moved on to our own separate lives, far away from Lima."

Quinn shakes her head and sighs.

"That's a nice thought, Rachel, but what about _now_? Don't I deserve to be truly happy _now_ rather than having to wait until later and settling for some fake version of happiness in the meantime? Doesn't everyone? What about people like Kurt? That poor boy is suffering so much more  _now_ than anyone should have to suffer in a lifetime, just for a chance to escape and be happy _later_. It's not fair that people have to do that, no matter what the cause."

"That's true, Quinn. But there will always be people who have to push others down to feel better about themselves. That doesn't stop after high school. People will always try to tear down what they don't understand or appreciate. Eventually, though, the stars will rise to the top, and everyone who tried to keep them down will be left in their wake."

 _There will always be people who have to push others down to feel better about themselves._ After Rachel says that, Quinn immediately remembers what she was like before she joined Glee club. _Quinn was one of those people._ She remembers the look on Rachel's face every time she got a slushee facial. She remembers how Rachel just stood there and took it, day after day, until she finally cornered Quinn in the bathroom— _this_ bathroom, in fact—and forced Quinn to see her as something other than a target. An outsider. Something to be made fun of. She remembers the day Rachel Berry stopped being a some _thing_ and became a some _one_. Her shame suddenly feels so heavy across her shoulders that she wants to fall down and curl up beneath it. Quinn doesn't know whether Rachel is remembering the same events, but she feels her own face burning with the strain of holding back tears. Her voice becomes so quiet that it's barely audible.

"You're one of the stars, Rachel."

Although Quinn can't see it, Rachel turns and looks at her as if she's never seen her before. A full smile now forms on her face, wide and genuine, and she wants Quinn to know she means it when she responds.

"You're a star, too, Quinn." Immediately defensive in such an emotional situation, Quinn shakes her head.

"I don't believe that. But I appreciate the attempt at flattery." Rachel, shaking her head right back, knows that getting Quinn to believe in her own potential is a battle that will have to wait for another day. Instead, she reaches a hand out towards her.

"Come on, Quinn. We should go. People are probably looking for us."

After a beat, Quinn turns to fully look at Rachel for the first time in several minutes, her eyes darting between Rachel's eyes and her offered hand. She slowly reaches for it, hesitates a moment, and then, acting before she can talk herself out of it, grabs it and pulls Rachel in for a hug. Rachel inhales sharply in surprise, catching a noseful of Quinn's floral perfume in the process. Her right arm is squished between them—Quinn neglected to let go of her hand—and her other arm hangs limply by her side.

They stand there like that for a moment, with Rachel shocked enough to be entirely unsure of what to do. _No one_ touches Quinn Fabray, and yet here Rachel stands, party to a hug she didn't even initiate. She becomes more aware every second of where their bodies touch. Their right arms crushed between their torsos. Their bare shoulders pressing together. Quinn's left arm around Rachel's waist, and her breath hot on Rachel's shoulder. Rachel, regaining the use of her limbs, slowly moves her free arm up and returns the hug, and as soon as she does, Quinn's entire body heaves with a sob. Having spent a lot of time comforting criers, Rachel now reacts on instinct—she removes her other arm from Quinn's grasp and embraces her in a proper hug, holding her tightly despite their height difference, and rubbing her back while making quiet shushing noises.

"Tonight is a night of celebration, Quinn. I know you're worried about a lot right now. But trust me, things are never as bad as you think they are. And they'll get better."

Quinn responds so quietly that, if her lips hadn't been right next to Rachel's ear, she might not have heard anything at all.

"You're far kinder to me than I deserve."

Rachel responds almost as quietly, and Quinn can hear a smile in her voice.

"That's not true. I don't give you anything you don't deserve, Quinn. You're a much better person than you allow most people to see. I just happen to be able to notice."

Quinn can't help but smile at how Rachel refuses to let her put herself down. All the same, she also knows that they really should get back, so she exhales, slowly, and starts to pull away. Rachel, suddenly missing the warmth their long embrace had afforded her, instinctively tightens her grip on Quinn for a brief moment before letting go. Quinn notices that Rachel continues to hold on, however briefly, and stops pulling away.

This causes their faces to sit side-by-side, maybe an inch apart. Time slows to a crawl. Every moment feels like several seconds, and every second feels like several minutes. Or maybe several minutes actually pass. Neither Quinn nor Rachel is sure.

Eventually, Quinn turns her head ever-so-slightly to the right. Rachel can now feel Quinn's breath on her cheek, which causes her to hold her own while her mind races; she would only have to turn an inch for their lips to brush against one another. Rachel tilts her head to the right barely,  _barely_ , and so slowly that she swears she can hear her own neck creaking. This slight movement causes time to start up again; Rachel's eyes immediately dart to and from Quinn's lips, while Quinn herself stares directly at Rachel, her expression unreadable but her eyes wide and unfocused.

Rachel takes a deep breath, opens her mouth as if she has something to say, realizes she doesn't, and closes it again. Quinn then turns to the right just a fraction of an inch further, causing her nose to brush against Rachel's. Rachel's eyes begin to close, with Quinn's not far behind.

 _BAM, BAM, BAM._ "Quinn! Rachel! Are you two in there?"

They leap apart as if electrocuted.

Mr. Schue.

"Hellooooo? Are you girls okay?" Rachel is the first to regain her composure, and Quinn is glad for it because she needs more time to recover from her heart attack.

"Yes, we're fine! I was just helping Quinn with her makeup! We'll be right out!" Mr. Schue mumbles something to himself about women and their grooming habits, but neither Quinn nor Rachel pay it any mind. A nervous laugh escapes Quinn, and as soon as she looks at Rachel, the laugh becomes a genuine one. Rachel's own nervousness means that she can't help but join in, and soon enough, they leave the bathroom in stitches. Mr. Schue looks at them as if they've lost their minds.

 

 

Later, in the gym, Kurt gracefully accepts his crown as Prom Queen, and Santana and Mercedes serenade everyone from the stage. Rachel and Quinn dance in the audience with no one in particular, Finn and Jesse having been sent home for fighting. When their eyes meet across the crowd, Rachel beams at Quinn, who smiles back just as genuinely, though not without a tinge of sadness in her eyes. That night, Quinn goes home to Finn. Rachel goes home to her diary.


	3. The third time is a pattern.

Rachel makes a beeline for the bathroom as soon as possible, having learned by now that it's the place she's most likely to find Quinn, regardless of the hour. They just seem to bump into one another there, like clockwork, as if they were meant to do so.  
  
Her suspicion proves to be correct when she rounds the corner and finds Quinn reapplying her lipstick in the mirror. She pauses for a moment, eyes darting around the room as she suddenly finds herself at a loss for words. She tries to say, "Quinn, I'm so glad you're here, I need to talk to you", but all that comes out is a forced, "hey". Embarrassed by her inability to form a complete sentence, she walks up to Quinn and manages to expound on that, though not without difficulty.  
  
"Look, I need your advice, alright? About...about an _adult_ problem." Quinn's eyes bug out of her head, and Rachel immediately regrets her choice of words.  
  
"Holy crap, _are you pregnant?!_ "  
  
" _No!_ Look, I'm—I'm coming to you as a friend, and oddly because also think that you're the only person that'll give me just a—a straightforward and thoughtful answer about this."  
  
Quinn tries not to take offense at the idea that Rachel felt the need to put "oddly" in that sentence. "You're right. I'm sorry. Yes. I can keep a secret."  
  
Now faced with the enormity of what she's about to say, Rachel becomes uncharacteristically shy and averts her eyes.  
  
"Okay."  
  
She takes a deep breath.  
  
"Well, um..."  
  
A second breath.  
  
"Finn..."  
  
A third.  
  
"...asked me to marry him."  
  
The words hit Quinn like a sack of bricks, but she keeps her face carefully neutral. Still, she can't manage to look happy—instead, she goes with "shocked". _Don't **overreact** , Fabray. Just **react**._  
  
"What did you say?" Quinn steels herself for the response.  
  
"I said I...I needed to think about it." Rachel nods several times, more at herself than at Quinn, trying desperately not to look as if she's hanging on Quinn's every word. She looks down at the ground again, and on the way back up, unwittingly lingers a second too long on Quinn's chest before darting awkwardly back up to her eyes. Quinn doesn't fail to notice. This, in collusion with Rachel's non-answer to Finn, gives her a glimmer of hope. She latches onto it.  
  
"Well, you can't."  
  
Rachel, now feeling thoroughly self-conscious, becomes defensive. "Why? Be—plenty of people get married at our age, and I mean, I-I know that we haven't _lived together_ or anything, but I..." she tries to sound as if she believes it, for both their sakes. "...I love him, and he's the one. I know it."  
  
Quinn is unconvinced, but she gives Rachel a tight smile to humor her. She then hands Rachel a folded sheet of paper, partially in an attempt to stop her rambling, and partially to give herself time to formulate a response. Rachel takes the paper, confused by the non-sequitur.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
 Quinn can't help but smile, proud despite herself.  
  
"My ticket out of here. I got into Yale. Early admissions. Turns out my essay about overcoming adversity while maintaining a straight-A average during a teen pregnancy really turned on the admissions boards." Rachel, still not understanding the segue but nevertheless happy for Quinn, pulls her into a hug.  
  
"Quinn, that's amazing." As soon as her arm is around Quinn, Rachel takes a sharp breath and gets a whiff of Quinn's floral perfume for the second time in her life—without warning, the scent throws her back to the last time they hugged. In this very same bathroom. In front of this very same sink. The moment comes back to her only briefly, but it's long enough that she suddenly feels very warm. "That's so great."  
  
This is the second slip-up Rachel's made in as many minutes, and she chastises herself for it—she pulls away quickly and tries to cover up her mounting embarrassment by nodding enthusiastically at no one in particular. _Rachel Barbra Berry, don't you dare fall apart **now**._ "It's great."  
  
Quinn, to Rachel's relief, mistakes this awkward reaction as being connected to NYADA.  
  
"I'm sure you'll get your NYADA one soon." Rachel jumps on the misconception.  
  
"Oh, yeah! I mean, New York mail is notoriously slow, so..." Rachel's less-than-stellar lie clues Quinn into what Rachel's really thinking, and she raises an inquisitive eyebrow before continuing on.  
  
"My point being is that I've dated Finn, Puck, Sam...even thought I loved some of them. But by the time the snow falls in New Haven next winter...I won't know why." At the word "love", Rachel quietly bites her lip, but nevertheless manages to keep her expression blank.  
  
"So, are—are you saying that Finn and I should break up?"  
  
Quinn gives a carefully constructed non-answer.  
  
"I'm all for making the most of the next few months." Quinn pauses for a moment, hoping that Rachel will catch her unspoken intent. Rachel makes no indication that she has, so Quinn continues. "But I'd hate the idea of dragging an anchor from my past into the bright lights of my future. Rachel, you have an amazing life ahead of you. As hard as it may be, if you want everything that you've ever dreamed of..."  
  
A second pause.  
  
"...you're gonna have to break up with him."  
  
"That's an awful thing to say."  
  
"Look. You wanted straight and thoughtful."  
  
A third.  
  
Rachel still doesn't seem to get the message, so Quinn presses on. "I guess, at one point, it made sense to love somebody for your whole life, but it doesn't anymore. Women are finding themselves in their _thirties_ now. Every magazine says it. We hardly know what we're gonna want in fifteen years." She doesn't quite believe it, but at this point she's pushing for Rachel to realize what a huge mistake she's making. Instead, Rachel leaps to her own defense.  
  
"I mean—Finn and I, we can grow together—"  
  
"Look, Rachel, I—" Quinn clamps her mouth shut before the rest of her sentence can escape, and she shakes her head to clear her thoughts. _Don't make this about **you** , Fabray. You can get over this thing when you leave for college. Be her **friend** now. _ She takes a breath and tries again.  
  
"You and Finn are a lovely couple. But, if you really want to be happy, you're gonna have to say goodbye."

 

   
  
Rachel looks up and meets Quinn's eyes as a realization dawns on her. Unfortunately, it's mostly the wrong one.  
  
"You're just trying to break us up." Quinn opens her mouth to speak, but Rachel continues before she can. "I see it now. You've been trying to do it all along. I come to you as a friend for your honest advice at a very important juncture in my life, and your advice is to break up with my boyfriend?!" Quinn again tries to speak, but again Rachel cuts her off. "I thought we were friends! Why can't you just be happy for me without trying to destroy what I have just because you don't have him for yourself?"  
  
Rachel's sudden fury reminds Quinn of their first meeting in this bathroom, when Rachel tore into Quinn like a woman possessed. The memory and all that followed it fill Quinn with a bittersweet feeling, and she smiles despite herself.  
  
"Don't presume to know my intentions."  
  
Rachel digs in, seemingly mistaking Quinn's quiet smile for a malicious grin. "I'm better at reading people than anyone gives me credit for." Quinn can't help but scoff at that, and her irritation at Rachel's thickheadedness puts her on the offensive.  
  
"Rachel, you're _terrible_ at reading people. What about when Finn was cheating on you with me, and you refused to believe it even though it was obvious to everyone but you? What about when Jesse St. James played you like a fiddle for _weeks,_ and you just let it happen? What about your mother?! Rachel, you're almost as bad at reading people as Sugar Motta pretends to be!"  
  
Faced with mounting examples of her various errors in judgment, along with Quinn having taken the bait and therefore lashing out, Rachel deflates.

"I suppose I _am_ terrible at reading people, if that's what you really think of me." Quinn instantly regrets her outburst and steps towards Rachel, reaching out, but Rachel takes a step back to keep her distance. "After all, I was wrong about you."

After everything she just said, Quinn feels that she doesn't deserve to feel hurt by Rachel's words, but it happens all the same.

"...What do you mean?"

Rachel shakes her head and wraps her arms around her torso. She wills herself not to cry, feeling overwhelmed and confused and so very _wrong_ about everything. Quinn again steps towards her, and again Rachel steps back in turn. They continue this dance until Rachel is backed up against the far wall, and can retreat no further. Quinn finally closes the distance between them. Now trapped, Rachel shrinks inward and squeezes herself tightly, bowing her head and staring steadfastly at the tiled floor. Quinn bends her knees to crouch slightly and catch Rachel's eyes, but Rachel refuses to look at her.

"Rachel? _What do you mean?"_

Backed into a wall, both literally and figuratively, Rachel has no escape. _  
_

"I really must be terrible at reading others, if I've been wrong so many times about so many people." _  
_

Quinn presses on. "But how were you wrong about _me?"_

Rachel now meets Quinn's eyes in full, darting between them nervously. Quinn, for her part, doesn't look away. Rachel speaks so quietly she can barely be heard at all.

"...I had this stupid idea that you were in love with me."

Quinn straightens up in shock and takes a stumbling step backwards. The negative space left where she was feels palpable to Rachel, who is now the one to step forward in turn.

"Quinn, I'm sorry. Please don't think—I didn't mean to—I never—"

Rachel flails internally and really has no idea what she's going to say to somehow take back what she'd said, but that turns out to be fine, because she's cut off by Quinn meeting her step halfway and crashing their lips together with enough force that Rachel trips backwards. She hits the wall with a surprised _grunt_ , but the sound is swallowed by the groan that comes from deep within Quinn's own throat as she pins Rachel to the cold bathroom wall. Without thinking, her arms reach up and lace behind Quinn's neck, pulling her closer. Quinn's hands are on either side of Rachel's face, holding on for dear life as their lips move together—before either of them has even really processed what's happening, Rachel's tongue flicks at Quinn's bottom lip, and Quinn's own flicks out in response. A quiet moan escapes past Rachel's lips as their tongues slide together, and Quinn is only egged on by the sound. She reaches her right arm down to the small of Rachel's back and wraps her left around Rachel's shoulders, bringing their entire bodies flush against one another. Part of her wonders whether this is even really happening, but she immediately squashes that feeling down—if this is a dream, she has no intention of ever waking up—and draws Rachel's bottom lip into her mouth, breathing heavily. She opens her eyes and looks at Rachel, who stares back at Quinn just as breathlessly.

Rachel isn't sure whether to be pleased (that _Quinn_ is kissing her), surprised (that Quinn is _kissing_ her), or terrified (that _Quinn_ is kissing _her_ ). She settles for all three at once, and promptly faints.

**Author's Note:**

> Just as in English we have a saying about things that happen in threes, which is paraphrased in the chapter titles, the French have a similar saying: "jamais deux sans trois"; "never two without three", or "never twice without a third time". I came across it once somewhere on the internets, and it struck me as a good fic title. This fic spawned from that idea.


End file.
